The Pressure Point Killer
by ClaraJJOswald
Summary: A new UnSub being called the Pressure Point Killer (or the PPK) hits close to home for the BAU, killing around the Quantico area in Virginia. As the team rush to find this psychopath, things get very personal as the killer targets on of their own. Mainly a JJ-centric story but with major parts for all other main characters. Established JJ/Emily, please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, so I just thought I'd tell you a few things about the setting of this story. So its slightly AU, there's an established JJ/Emily pairing, and Will and Henry never came into this story. Probably set somewhere around the start of season 6 but JJ won't leave and it won't have much to do with the running plot of the show, its more just where they're all at, so JJ isn't a profiler yet.**

 **This is my first Criminal Minds story and I'm a bit new at the whole case and story thing, so I apologise for any continuity errors and such. Also sorry if the description of the guy's MO is a bit confronting or disturbing, there shouldn't be much of it in the story.**

 **ENJOY! xx**

* * *

JJ sat in her office, getting all of the team's files ready for their latest case, when she noticed Emily standing in the doorway.

"Hey you. I'm just getting the case files ready, we have a briefing in five," JJ said, enjoying the soft look Emily was giving her. That was, before the look turned bad when Emily heard the word 'briefing'.

"I just want to come in to check on my girlfriend, but somehow every time she managed to ruin it with a 'briefing in five'," Emily groaned.

JJ collected the file and stood up to walk towards Emily, giving her a sorry smile before saying, "Oh tough, Em. It's a hard life for us all," grinning and she reached up to give Emily a quick kiss.

"Oh don't give me that, JJ. You do know you're briefings are the number one cause of stress in my life right now?" she replied cheekily, earning a slight glare from JJ as she walked past her, heading to the briefing room.

"I was just kidding," she laughed as she turned around to follow her girlfriend.

* * *

"So, what do we have this time?" asked Morgan, leaning back into his chair around the table.

JJ kicked off the briefing with, "Alright, three women in their late-20's to early-30's were killed this over the last 3 weeks, Laura Hall, Jessica Benson and Olivia Giordano. Local media outlets are aptly calling this guy the 'Pressure Point Killer' or the 'PPK'."

"Why's that?" questioned Rossi.

"Well each girl was found with syringe needles inserted into major pressure points around their bodies. This guy is sick; I don't think we've seen one like this in a while. Each girl was found sat upright in a chair, each had had been stabbed through a pressure point found in between the thumb and the forefinger on each hand with small hunting knives. Now these chairs all had arms," she clicked over onto a new slide on the screen, "so he could basically nail them to the chair."

Each team member shuddered as they looked at the photos. There were knives stabbed through both the girls' hands and straight through the arm of the chair, keeping them incapacitated.

"He also did the same to pressure points to the outside of their feet and into the floor. And that's not even the half of it. He drags a knife over their throats, not hard enough to kill them but enough to draw a considerable amount of blood. Then the bastard stick needles into other main pressure points, like one in each knee, one on either side of the neck just behind the collarbone and one right through the middle of the neck. Finally, what the ME considers to be the main killing point, he puts one through each temple. Now this guy has to have some extensive knowledge of the human anatomy, because he pushes each needle in just far enough to cause considerable pain and blood loss, but not far enough to kill them instantly."

"How the hell does he manage to keep these girls from screaming or running away?" Emily asked, horrified at the case being laid out in front of her.

"Each girl was found with trace amounts of a neuromuscular blocking agent in her system. The guy injected them with it before torturing them to keep them paralysed but conscious and feeling pain while he does it. There's no sexual aspect to it."

JJ had to stop, close her eyes and take a deep breath before continuing.

"This is gonna be a tough one guys. This guy is ruthless. He's one of the most sadistic men we have ever gone after and the only thing he wants is to cause immense pain to these girls. We have to find a way to stop him before anyone else suffers this way. Three girls are already too many. I only wish I'd picked this case before it got this far."

All team members nodded in agreement. They all knew they had to stop this guy, and they also knew how the burden of choosing which cases to take weighed on JJ.

Rossi was the first to break the silence that followed JJ's speech by asking, "What I don't get is how these needles kill the girls so painfully. I mean, don't people do this kind of stuff all the time with acupuncture?"

It was Reid who piped up for the first time to answer Rossi's question. "Well you see usually in acupuncture, the thickness of the needles are actually a couple times less than a single hair, and significantly less than a syringe needle. Also the design of the acupuncture needle is different from other forms of needles: For example, syringes have a cutting edge, whereas acupuncture needles are like a wire with a handle to slide in and out of the skin with no resistance and no damage. So the thickness of the needles he used significantly damaged the girls' bodies, and the needles to their temples are what actually lead to their slow, painful deaths."

Everyone looked at Reid quizzically, wondering why he'd read about the thickness of acupuncture needles.

Hotch finally spoke when he asked, "So where exactly is the jet taking us today?"

"Well we're actually not taking the jet today," replied JJ.

"What?" Morgan asked, confused. "Why?"

"We're not taking the jet because these killings only took place just outside of the Quantico area here in Virginia."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, i hope you enjoyed the first chapter, sorry its a bit slow and a bit short but I promise that'll all change in the next few chapters. Reviews are very much appreciated :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Okay, so we're driving out to Stafford County Sheriff's Office, it's only about a half hour drive from here," said JJ. The team were in two SUV's and were having a phone call on speaker so they could talk about the case. In the car with JJ in the front seat are Hotch driving, with Emily and Reid in the back, the other car containing Rossi and Morgan, while Garcia stayed behind at headquarters.

"Okay so odds are our UnSub's a white male, in his early-mid 40's, probably very outgoing personality, maybe in a position of relative power or authority, probably doesn't show any visible mental problems but may have either anger management issues or be very accepting of violence, judging by the amount of pain he puts these girls through. That's pretty much all we have to go on. Did local PD mention any leads?" Morgan asked JJ.

"I spoke to the local sheriff over the phone, they actually already have two suspects in custody. From what I could tell, they're pretty sure that one of them is our guy," replied JJ.

"Well I think we'll be the judge of that," Hotch interjected as they rounded a corner into the sheriff's station.

* * *

The sheriff greeted the team as they walked into the station.

"Hi, I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone." The man nodded as she continued, "These are SSAs Hotchner, Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss and this is Dr Reid. We hope to be of as much help as possible."

"Well thank you, we honestly appreciate any help we can get on this case, we're not a very big department and we don't exactly have the resources to launch a manhunt for this sicko," replied the sheriff very sincerely. "My name's Sheriff Jacob Carter by the way, and this is Deputy Bill Sacks. Follow me and we'll get you all set up."

Sheriff Carter started to lead the way, but abruptly turned around to face the team again.

"Sorry guys, one thing I forgot to tell to tell you is that we have the parents of all three girls at the station and they've all refused to leave, but they've been cooped up together for a long time now and its not looking pretty in there at the moment."

"What do you mean by that?" JJ queried.

"Well they've all started fighting with each other about whose fault it is that this happened to their daughters," replied Deputy Sacks.

"I thought they didn't know each other."

"They don't. At least they say they don't. After a couple hours they just let loose on one another."

JJ sighed, wishing he'd given her this information before they got there so that she'd had time to prepare, but instead of getting mad at the sheriff she decided to just try and deal with the situation head on.

"Where are they?"

The sheriff pointed towards the door of an office where the girls' parents were and JJ wondered how she could have missed five yelling adults when she walked in.

"Alright, well I'll go talk to them and see if I can get any information from them."

"Thanks JJ, Morgan, Rossi and I will go interview the suspects with the sheriff, Prentiss and Reid you guys follow Deputy Sacks and get us set up," said Hotch.

All agents nodded in response and turned to do their respective duties. Emily however quickly followed after JJ and grabbed her arm, pulling her off to the side.

"Hey Jayje are you sure you won't need any help in there? I mean those parents all look really frantic," Emily said softly.

"Em its fine, I deal with the families all the time, it's no big deal."

"Yeah I know its just I worry about you. I mean you have the burden of choosing which cases to take and which not to take, and when you have to console those grieving families you always just look so… I don't know, broken. And I hate seeing you hurting," Emily rushed out softly, a growing look of worry colouring her face.

"Hey, woah, Em I'm okay, I swear. I can do it, I want to do it. It's not just another part of the job for me, helping these families is one of the main reasons I love my job so much. I love you for caring so much but I promise you Em, I'm alright," JJ replied, baffled at Emily's outburst of worry.

"Okay but if anything gets out of hand come and get me straight away."

"You got it. Now go, we've both got work to do," JJ said smiling.

Emily gave JJ one last touch of the arm before turning and heading back to go help Reid set up. As JJ walked towards the families she was beaming at Emily's recent display of affection. The smile quickly disappeared from her face as she went to open the door and found all eyes on her.

"Hi everybody, I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau with the FBI I'm here to help you guys. Now I know how much pain you must be going through right now but I need you all to stop fighting with each other so I can ask you all a few questions."

"Well we wouldn't even be here if this idiot had stopped his daughter from dating the psychopath who killed our daughters!" yelled one of the fathers, a tall, rough looking man with a crew cut.

"My daughter was 28 years old, I couldn't dictate who she dated! And as I've told you many times already, Simon did not do this! I have known him and his family for over 20 years, he would never –"

"That's enough!" yelled JJ, eliciting a shocked stare from all the parents. "Guys I know that this is a terrible situation but if you don't stop fighting and help me, your daughters may never get justice for what happened to them. And you will never get any semblance of closure." After seeing everyone visibly calm down, all the parents who hadn't already been sitting resigning themselves to various chairs or couches, JJ continued.

"Thank you. Now I cannot even begin to understand what you must be going through right now, but I am very, very sorry for your losses." JJ spoke softly and sincerely to the parents, grieving with them as she saw the devastated looks on their faces. "Your daughters did not deserve what happened to them and you do not deserve this suffering. I know it'll be hard but I need to ask you all a few questions to see if I can try and get a sense for what was happening in your daughters' lives. Is that okay?"

A few parents nodded in agreement while others were too wrapped up in their grief to register what was happening.

"Okay, can you tell me any connections any of your daughters may have had? Were they friends, co-workers, did they live in the same neighbourhood, anything like that?" JJ asked.

"No," whispered one of the mothers, clasping her hands together as she spoke, voice breaking as she talked about her daughter. "We spoke to the sheriff earlier and we couldn't find any connections between our daughters. Oh god." The woman stopped speaking as tears started to roll down her face. "Our Laura didn't even live here until a few weeks ago. She said she missed us living so far away so came back home to live with us…"

"I'm so sorry Mrs Hall." JJ said in a soothing tone as Mrs Hall started to sob as turned into her husband's chest. He gave JJ a look as if telling her to continue with her questions.

"What about your daughters, Jessica and Olivia? Did they have any connections?" JJ asked the other parents, who shook their heads in response. "What about to the two men we have in custody?"

As JJ said this the man who had been yelling before, whom she had deduced to be Olivia's father, stood up angrily an walked towards the window. Laura Hall's father spoke up and said, "Uh one of them, Simon Jones, he was dating Laura. The sheriff arrested him because they didn't have any other leads. I'm telling you there's no way he could have done this."

"What about the other man?"

"He's our gardener," said Olivia's father gruffly from near the window. "He was at our house when Olivia was abducted."

"Do you know him very well? Do you think he could have done this?" queried JJ.

"Honestly I don't know. He's never caused us any trouble. He comes in every week, does his job and leaves after collecting his check. He's always very polite."

JJ asked a few more questions of the families but realised that none of them really had any particularly valuable information on possible suspects, or the men they already had in custody. After offering her condolences to the families, JJ headed towards the door, noticing a distinct change to when she first walked in in the atmosphere of the room. As she turned around from closing the door behind her, she was shocked by the sudden presence of Sheriff Carter in front of her.

"Oh! God, you scared me," laughed JJ.

"Sorry about that, I just came here to ask you something," he replied.

"Oh okay. Something about the case?"

"No actually. I heard some of the things you said in there. You're very sweet. I was actually wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime," asked the sheriff with great confidence.

JJ was even more shocked at the question than she was at his sudden presence earlier. "Oh! Um, I'm sorry but I'm already in a relationship. And don't you think this is a bit of an inappropriate situation to be asking me that in?"

A sudden look of anger flashed across Carter's face, disappearing as quickly as she had seen it. "Okay sorry, I see how it is," he replied with a tone of extreme annoyance, turning and walking away from JJ as she stood there, incredibly confused. She stood there for a few moments in confusion before moving to go find Emily. Once she reached the office, upon seeing Emily writing case details up onto a whiteboard, JJ said, "You'll never believe what just happened."

"What's up? Is everything okay?" Emily wondered, moving over towards JJ as she spoke.

"Yeah everything's fine, it's just Sheriff Carter just asked me out," JJ replied, still bemused.

"Oh did he now? And what did you say to him?" Emily asked, JJ laughing at her tone.

"Is that a hint of jealousy I hear there Em?" Emily just smiled sarcastically as JJ continued, "But I mean it was seriously weird. First of all he completely snuck up on me and scared the crap out of me, and then when I turned him down he got really angry and walked away. There's something weird about that guy that I just can't quite put my finger on."

"Oh Jayje I'm sure he's fine, I mean I can _completely_ understand where he's coming from. As you may recall, I was once in that exact position. Only after you turned me down, I just asked you again and again until you said yes," Emily said, a smile growing on her face at the memory.

"Yes well I guess you're right. Now have you guys actually been doing any work in here or have you just been looking through files to make it look like you're actually busy?" JJ joked, eliciting a sarcastic smile from Emily.

"Well we're still waiting on the others to finish with their interrogations so we really haven't had much to go on. Did you get anything from the families?" Reid piped up from around a desk near the whiteboard.

"No. None of the girls knew each other or lived in the same neighbourhood or frequented the same restaurants, just no apparent connection apart from their race and age. The only thing I got was that they all still live with their parents which is odd considering they're all between the ages of 28 and 32. But I've never heard of an UnSub targeting people because they live with their parents."

"Well three girls could just be a coincidence, we don't really have a whole lot to go off of," Emily replied, annoyed at that fact.

At that moment, Morgan turned the corner into their makeshift office to update the rest of the JJ, Emily, and Reid.

"Hey how's it going in there?" JJ asked.

"We've been interviewing both guys for over an hour and they've given us absolutely nothing. We have nothing to hold them on. We've gotta let them go."

"But they're our only suspects, we can't let them go!" JJ said exasperatedly.

"I know but that's just how it is. There's not a whole lot we can do. We're just gonna have to look elsewhere."

"Well we should at least put surveillance out on them," Reid said, standing up from his chair.

"Yeah that's really the only thing we can do. I'll talk to Hotch about it," replied Morgan, turning around and walking towards the door.

"Hey Morgan," JJ called after him causing him to turn back around to face her. "You know we've gotta catch this guy," she said very seriously, thinking back to the parents and wondering how devastated and helpless they must feel. Emily was right when she said that she looked broken after talking with the families. She felt it every case they had. But she couldn't let that stop her from doing her job. She knew she had to help get these families closure.

"I know Jayje. We're gonna get this son of a bitch."

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please review, I'd love all the feedback I can get xx**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **A/N: Hey guys, so this chapter is a bit of a flashback sort of thing just showing what happened during the interrogations mentioned in the last chapter. Hope you enjoy**

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

Morgan, Rossi, Hotch and Sheriff Carter all stood in the viewing room of one of the sheriff's station's interrogation rooms.

"So who is this guy?" Morgan asked the sheriff.

"This man is Simon Jones. He was dating one of the victims, Laura Hall. The parents say there's no way he could've done this but I'm not sure we can really trust their judgement. He's got no alibi for the night of the murder, says he was at home resting after some sport match, or the gym, or something, I don't know," replied Carter, the agents all slightly put off by his slightly glib attitude.

"The other suspect we got in the other room is Rafael Martinez," the sheriff continued. "He was the gardener for Olivia Giordano's family. He says he was at their house at the time that Olivia was abducted, but that he saw nothing. Her parents said he always seemed nice but he has a very shaky alibi. Apart from Olivia, no one else was home at the time so no one can account for his whereabouts. My bet's on him, it seems pretty straightforward to me."

"Well I think we'll be the judges of that," Rossi said, earning a look of disdain from the sheriff.

"Rossi, let's go in and talk to Jones, see if we can get a read on him. Morgan you go with Sheriff Carter to talk with Martinez. Try and crack down on him about his alibi."

Morgan nodded and headed out with the sheriff to start the interrogation. As he opened the door, Martinez, sho had been sitting with his head in his hands, shot up his head to look at them.

"Finally someone's here. Can I go yet? I've been sitting here for hours and I already told you guys everything I know," he pleaded.

"Rafael Martinez. My name's Derek Morgan, I'm with the FBI's behavioural analysis unit," said Morgan, pulling the chair out from the table and sitting down. "I'm gonna need you to tell me where you were when Olivia Giordano was abducted."

"Are you kidding me? I already explained it ten times to the sheriff! I swear to god I didn't do anything to her. Like I said before, I didn't even see her that day, and I didn't step foot inside that house. I got there, I did my work, and I left, simple as that. I did not touch her."

Morgan took notes of the guy's behaviour, noting something slightly off about the way he talked. He sat very still and maintained eye contact without blinking a lot, and made a lot of pointing hand gestures, all signs that someone is lying. He also noted that while he wasn't sure the guy was telling the truth, he also didn't show many behavioural signs that he killed the girl. He asked a few more questions just to be sure, but they only confirmed his suspicions: Morgan didn't think this guy was the killer. The sheriff, however, had other ideas.

"Alright, cut the crap, Martinez, we know you killed that girl!" he yelled, storming up to the guy and grabbing him by the collar.

Upon seeing this, Morgan leapt to pull Carter off of the suspect. "What the hell are you doing?" he yelled, incredulous.

"Oh come one, you see this, don't you? This guy's alibi is crap, no one saw him and he was the only one there! He's got to be the killer!" the sheriff yelled back adamantly.

"We have no evidence to prove that! And besides, you can't just go around attacking the suspects!"

The sheriff clenched his fists, visibly trying to clam himself down, and turned around and stormed out the door. Morgan apologised to Martinez before following the sheriff back into the viewing room, where Hotch and Rossi were waiting.

"I'd like to apologise for my actions back there, they were inappropriate and I was out of line," the sheriff said through clenched teeth. "I just feel like this guy is our best bet."

"Look I respect that, but I've been a profiler for a long time. I know his alibi is weak at best, but I'm almost certain this guy isn't out killer, he doesn't really fit the profile," replied Morgan. The sheriff gave him an irritated look, but ultimately looked resigned to the fact that they didn't have the killer.

"I just wanna catch this guy before he hurts anyone else," the sheriff continued.

"I know, man, we all do. And we'll catch him, I promise. Just not tonight."

Their irritation continued when Hotch said, "Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Jones isn't talking. There's something off about him, but we didn't find out anything new. I hate to say it but I think we have to let these guys go." Morgan let out a frustrated sigh before Hotch continued, "Morgan will you go tell the rest of the team where we're at? They'll be anxious to know."

With a quick nod of the head, Morgan left the room to find the rest of them team.

* * *

After hearing that they had to let their only suspects go, JJ sat defeated in her chair, head resting against her fist and twirling a pen around in her hands. She looked up behind her as she felt Emily rest her arms on her shoulders and kiss the top of her head before nestling her head into JJ's neck.

"I recognise that look. Something's really bothering you, isn't it?" Emily said softly, moving to sit next to JJ as she felt her release a long sigh. "What's up?" Emily continued, facing JJ and taking her hand in her own.

"You know what's up. I can't believe we're just letting those guys go. For all we know, one of them is the killer. What if we're just letting a murderer back out onto the streets? Who knows what they could do?" JJ said angrily, standing up and walking over towards the window.

"Hey, you can't think like that," Emily reassured her, getting up to walk over to JJ. "If one of those men is the killer, there's no way in hell we're going to let them hurt anyone else. We're gonna put surveillance on them and if they do anything suspicious, we'll bring them right back in and question them until they talk."

JJ looked into Emily's eyes, her worries almost dissipated under her incredibly sincere look. _Almost_ dissipated. She still couldn't quell the sadness she felt for those families. "I know, it's just hard. Those families have lost everything that mattered. And now our only suspects are gone? How am I supposed to tell them that?" she almost pleaded with Emily for an answer.

"You'll find a way, you always do," Emily said before pulling JJ into a tight embrace.

"What would I do without you, Em?" JJ breathed into her neck.

The brunette just pulled away from their hold and kissed her girlfriend, moving her arms around her waist as JJ encircled her arms around Emily's neck. They got so lost in each other that they didn't notice Sheriff Carter staring through the window, a cold look etched into his face.

* * *

 **A/N: sorry this is such a short chapter guys, the next one will have a lot more going on. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Alright so my team are going to put out surveillance on Rafael Martinez and Simon Jones, just to be sure in case we've missed something," Hotch said, looking strong and commanding as he stood briefing the sheriff's department. "Agents Morgan and Prentiss will take one car, Agent Rossi and myself will take another, and Dr Reid and Agent Jareau will stay here to liaise with you guys and with us. Our technical analyst Penelope Garcia is always on standby back at Quantico, so she'll be ready to help with anything you need. What I need from you guys back here is to dig up anything and everything you can on our two suspects and help my agents find any more leads in case one of these men isn't our UnSub. Everyone clear?"

Hotch got a response of nods and a few general signals of compliance before everyone moved out to get to work. "Alright, we're moving out. JJ, Reid, you guys good here?"

"All good. You guys go, save the day," JJ replied with folded arms, a sweet smile gracing her face. The team smiled back and turned towards the door, ready to go out on surveillance, but JJ called out one more thing before they left. "And Morgan, I'm watching you. You better take care of her," she warned, referring to Emily.

"Oh don't worry Jayje, I've got her back. But really, we all know she can take care of herself," Morgan said, chuckling as he spoke. Emily quickly ran back to JJ, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, pulling away with a goofy grin plastered on her face before turning around and running to catch up to Morgan, turning around to yell, "Bye Jayje!" that same grin now plastered onto JJ's face.

* * *

Morgan and Emily sat in their SUV outside a gym, waiting for Rafael Martinez to come out so they could continue their surveillance. Emily sat in the driver's seat, Morgan in the passenger seat with his legs up on the dashboard, crunching away at a packet of chips. Emily sat in quiet amusement as she watched him in the reflection on the windscreen.

"You're a pig Derek, you know that, right?" Morgan stopped suddenly and slowly turned his head towards Emily, picking a chip out of the bag and placing it in his mouth, continuing to chew loudly with his mouth wide open. Emily simply chuckled and trained her eyes back on the entrance of the gym. There was a moment of comfortable silence before Morgan spoke up.

"How's it going with you and JJ?" he asked smiling, mouth still full of chips.

Emily simply gave him a sideways glance, smirking at him before saying, "Fine. Good. None of your business," trying to deflect the question.

"Ooh now look who's getting all flustered thinkin' about her pretty girlfriend. Seriously, it's adorable, you're going all red and everything! Tough old Agent Emily Prentiss all sensitive and smitten," Morgan chuckled, relishing the moment. Emily was not usually one to wear her emotions so obviously on her sleeve, but he definitely saw something special in her now.

"Oh shush," she bantered, slapping him playfully but forcefully across the arm.

"Ouch! I'm only joking," he laughed. But, seeing the smile still etched into her face, he continued. "You're pretty serious about her, aren't you?"

Emily flushed with embarrassment. She didn't usually like to talk about her personal life, but this was one time she was really fighting the urge to shout it out from every rooftop. She loved JJ, and she wanted to tell the whole world.

"Yeah, I guess," she said shyly, gaining a pressing look from Morgan. "Okay yes, we are. I… I just can't stop thinking about her. I mean I can't help it! She just makes me want to smile every time I see her, or think about her. And I just want to protect her from everything, from the job, from life, and… I'm sorry, I'm rambling, I just can't help it," she said laughing happily. She simply couldn't get JJ off her mind, and she felt like she had to tell someone about it. It wasn't really something she was used to, falling so hard for someone. "God, I feel like we're in high school and I'm talking to you about my crush. Why am I rambling? I don't ramble."

Morgan simply sat there chuckling to himself. He knew exactly what was going on. "It's called love, Emily. You love JJ."

He watched as Emily sat in thought, another smile forming eagerly on her face. "Yeah. I guess I do."

Their talk was cut short when Morgan's head shot up and he moved to sit upright in his seat. "There he is, it's Martinez, he's coming out of the gym."

"Well then we better get moving."

* * *

Back at the sheriff's station, JJ sat with her arms crossed, restlessly tapping her foot against the floor. As she stared at the files on the desk in front of her, Reid entered the room after having gone to the bathroom.

"Found anything yet?" he asked, noticing JJ didn't seem to have moved since he left.

"No. Honestly I don't think I will. There's nothing in these files that's gonna help us," she said, getting slightly irritated.

"Well we could call Garcia, see if she can find anything on the suspects," Reid suggested.

"Yeah, I guess," she replied, her brow furrowed, seemingly in thought.

Reid noticed something seemed wrong with JJ, like she wasn't really herself. "Are you okay JJ? You seem a little off."

"Yeah, I don't know, it's just… lately I've been feeling a bit… I don't know, I guess helpless. Like I'm not really helping anyone. I just feel like there's more I could be doing here, but I never really get the chance."

"What do you mean? JJ, you help us so much every day cause you stretch yourself so thin with work. I don't think this team could function without you. Seriously Jayje," Reid replied sincerely.

"Thanks Reid," JJ said, not really seeming to believe what he was saying. "Let's call Garcia," she said, standing up, "see if she can find anything."

Reid got out his phone and dialled Garcia's number while JJ walked over to him. After a few rings, she picked up.

"You've reached the goddess of all tech. Speak, and I will judge if you are worthy," she answered.

"Garcia, it's Reid and JJ. We need your help on a –"

"Reid, I'm a very busy woman, I don't have all day. My fingers are waiting eagerly on the keyboard. Give me the name," she said in her usual manner, an equal mix of playful and serious – maybe a little bit more on the playful side.

"Right, of course. The names are Simon Jones and Rafael Martinez."

"Anything specific you need?"

"We'll take anything you've got," answered JJ. "So far we have found nothing. We had to let them go and put out surveillance just in case."

"Oh man I'm sorry Jayje. Well from what I can see so far, this Jones guy's record is squeaky clean. He's got no criminal record, and no run-ins with the police except a few parking tickets. He works in an office for some pharmaceutical company. I mean, I'm no expert but he doesn't really sound like your guy."

JJ and Reid were just about ready to sit down and give up after that news, but Garcia continued with something much better.

"Now this Rafael Martinez, he seems a bit more 'rough around the edges' kinda thing. He's got a few breaking and entering charges under his belt and he spent a few months in county jail for aggravated assault 2 years ago. I think that's about all I can give you for now, but I can dig a little deeper if you want?"

"That's alright Garcia, thanks for your help," JJ replied.

"Any time, my blonde-haired cutie. Any time," she said before hanging up.

Feeling a little more optimistic, JJ said, "Well that gives us a bit more to go on. If either of these suspects is our guy, it's looking like that's gonna be Martinez. How do you think they're going on surveillance?

"I'm sure they'll call us if anything happens."

* * *

Four hours. Emily and Morgan had been sitting in their car watching Martinez for four hours, and the guy hadn't done anything. They followed him to the gym, to the supermarket, and back home, and they couldn't quite tell if the guy was a serial killer from his choice of bread or the welcome mat outside his front door.

"What do you reckon he's doing in there?" Prentiss asked, trying to see through his window.

"I don't know. Definitely doing something a lot more interesting than sitting here watching his paint peel. How is this guy one of the only two leads we've got?" Morgan replied, sitting in a state of pure boredom. From what Morgan had seen so far, Martinez was no more of a serial killer than he was, although he hadn't seen much. He just wanted Martinez to move so he could do something and they could catch him in the act.

Emily's mind had wandered to thinking about the families of the victims. She couldn't imagine how painful it must be to have no idea who had done something so terrible to someone you loved. If it happened to her, she thought, she'd want to know how someone could do something so cruel. She would need someone to hate, to get answers and maybe some small form of closure. But these families had nothing, and all she could do was sit outside some guy's house and wait for him to do something.

Almost as if a prayer had been answered, she moved in her seat as she noticed the front door opening.

"Finally, the son of a bitch is moving again," Morgan said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yeah well if he doesn't do something suspicious soon we're gonna have to think about letting him go. We can't hold out surveillance forever, we're gonna have to find some new leads," Prentiss said.

"Yeah I know," Morgan said becoming increasingly more irritated.

Martinez got in his car, and sped out of the driveway. Emily waited a few seconds and followed him out. They wanted to make sure he didn't notice them, otherwise he might change his plans and they couldn't catch him (if he even was their UnSub).

They followed him around for 45 minutes, keeping a safe distance behind him, as he just drove around back streets with seemingly no purpose. They noticed his car swerving a bit, but didn't want to pull him over, or they'd break their cover. Finally, he stopped and parked outside a house.

Something about the street name reminded Morgan of something. "Wait a second, Clara Street. Isn't that…"

"Olivia's house," Prentiss finished. "Her parents are still at the sheriff's station, what's he doing here? Can we bring him in on this?"

"Let's just wait and see if he does anything," Morgan suggested.

They sat and watched as Martinez got out of his car, stumbling slightly as he walked. He walked up to the front door, and Morgan and Prentiss could tell what he was about to do. He looked around at his feet and picked up a small pot plant, throwing it through the window next to the door, trying to break in. The agents leapt out of the car and ran to the house.

"Rafael Martinez, stop right there," Morgan shouted, walking up to him, Prentiss following behind him. Seeing the agents, Martinez panicked and jumped the fence, making a run for it. He didn't make it very far before Emily tackled him to the ground.

"Don't make this harder for yourself Martinez. You're under arrest for breaking and entering and the suspicion of murder," she said.

"Hey I didn't do anything. I was just try'na pay my respects," he said, slurring his words.

"Oh Morgan, he's drunk," Prentiss sighed.

"Seriously man, what are you trying to do?" Morgan asked.

"Man I told you, I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be the judge of that."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys, sorry it's taken me so long to update, it's just been so hectic with school lately but I'm on holidays now so I've got a bit more free time to write. I've already got another 2 chapters written so far and they're pretty exciting so get ready! There's gonna be a lot of action so keep reading. Hope you enjoy this chapter :D Please take the time to review, it makes my day x


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Emily I swear the sheriff is really creeping me out. I feel like he's always staring at me," JJ whispered.

"Okay Jayje, I think you're getting a bit paranoid there. Sure, he gives off a bit of a weird vibe, but I'm sure he doesn't mean anything by it, he's probably just checking you out or something," Emily assured her.

"If you say so," JJ said, still not looking entirely convinced.

"Okay well he and Morgan are about to go interrogate Martinez again, we should probably go watch in the viewing room. Although I'm not sure how much they're gonna get from him, they've already tried once. Oh and this time he's drunk off his ass," Emily said, heading towards the door.

"He's what? Damn, that doesn't really sound like 'highly intelligent serial killer' to me," JJ said.

"Me neither," Reid said, appearing beside them. "I mean chances are, with his level of skill and intelligence, our UnSub would ever let himself get drunk. He'd always need to be completely in control and being intoxicated would severely weaken his senses. So it doesn't really make sense if Martinez were our UnSub."

"Oh well look at that. I think boy genius and I are onto something here," JJ joked as they approached the interrogation room. Hotch and Rossi were there when they walked in, and Morgan was already digging into Martinez.

"We've already got you on breaking and entering, Rafael, we know there's something you're not telling us, if you're sure you didn't kill Olivia, just tell us what's going on and we can clear this whole mess up," Morgan sighed, looking fed up. Martinez just remained silent.

"Seriously, man, how is this helping any-"

"Okay cut the crap Martinez, we know you killed those girls. You're gonna go away for the rest of your miserable life, you might as well hurry up and start now. Just confess already, you worthless piece of shit!" Sheriff Carter was up, cutting Morgan off and yelling straight at Martinez's face.

"I swear to God Carter, what the hell do you think you're doing! Come on, let's go. Now!" Morgan yelled, walking out of the room with Carter following.

JJ in the viewing room followed them out to the sheriff's office, knowing that his outburst could cause some serious problems for the bureau if they didn't stop him. This is where her real work as the media liaison kicked in.

Morgan saw her coming in, and let her do the talking.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? What kind of a look do you think this would give your department, not to mention the FBI, if one of your little altercations escalates and turns physical before anyone can stop you? Not to mention if Morgan hadn't stopped you, you could have ruined any case we might have had against Martinez. What were you thinking?" JJ asked, exasperated.

"I can damn well interrogate my suspects how I see fit! I don't need you waltzing in here telling me what to-"

"Hey, Carter, don't you see what you're doing? You can't afford to not keep control of your anger. I get that you think Martinez is our UnSub, but we've gotta do this the right way," Morgan interrupted, stepping in between him and JJ.

Carter looked as though he were taking a moment to control himself before sighing and saying, "I'm sorry, okay? It won't happen again. I'm just not gonna let this guy get away."

"I get it, trust me. It's just we're not even sure if Martinez is our UnSub. We just have to do this right or we could ruin any chance of ever getting justice for those girls," JJ said calmly. "Just go back in and apologise to him just to be sure."

All three of them seemed to have calmed down a bit, so they started to head back towards the interrogation room. Before they left his office, JJ noticed something that caught her eye. "Hey you do martial arts?" she asked the sheriff.

"Yeah, me and a few buddies are in a sort of a fight club, we compete every weekend," he replied.

JJ took a last sweep of his office, noticing many awards and commendations hanging up around his office, before they made their way back to the interrogation room.

As they get back into interrogating Martinez, the sheriff appeared visibly calmer.

"Okay look, we're sorry for what happened before," he said shortly. Morgan continued to take the lead and press on with the questioning.

"Alright, I'm gonna ask one more time before we arrest you man, I'm sick of playing around. What aren't you telling us about Olivia?" Morgan asked. "Did you, or did you not, kill those girls?" Morgan asked when he didn't get an answer. He waited a few more moments with still no answer, before getting up and saying, "Alright, that's it –"

"Okay stop! God, I didn't kill those other girls and I sure as hell didn't kill Olivia. I loved her," choked out Martinez, fighting back tears and still slightly slurring his words.

Morgan breathed a sigh of relief, but also realised now he had a lot more crap to deal with. Behind the glass, the rest of the team did the same. "You were in love with her. Were you sleeping with her?" he asked. Upon receiving a small nod, he continued. "Okay, so why were you trying to break into her house?"

"Her parents didn't know about us, Olivia didn't want them to. I just wanted to pay my respects. And I figured, with her parents here and all, it may be the last time I had to say goodbye. I wanted to leave some flowers in her room. I know I shouldn't have tried to break in but I swear, I could never have killed her. She was the love of my life," he said, tears streaming down his face. Morgan sighed and looked through the glass, telling the rest of the team he was done there. The team all gathered in their makeshift briefing room, getting Garcia up on a videoconference.

"Okay, I think we can all agree he didn't do it. I mean he could've been faking it, but he really seemed to be telling the truth," Morgan said. He noticed a look of disdain on the sheriff's face, but ignored it, and the sheriff left the room and went back to his office.

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do now? He was our only real suspect. Now we're basically back at square one," Rossi asked.

Before anyone could answer, Deputy Sacks ran into the room, with a very worrying look on his face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's something you should know. They found another body."

* * *

The team got to the scene and found everything they expected. A thirty year old woman found in her own home needles and knives sticking out of her body, sitting on a chair. So much blood. And they had done nothing to stop it.

The whole ride back to the sheriff's station, no one said anything in either car. Every agent was too full of guilt to say anything. They all walked back into the briefing room, heads bowed low. No one said anything until Hotch said they should start talking about the new victim and any leads they had.

"Well she was thirty years old, matched our UnSub's MO, she was definitely on of ours," Reid said quietly.

"She lived alone, her sister was coming to meet her for lunch when she found her. All the other victims lived with their parents which I thought might be something but I guess we can rule that out," Emily sighed.

"Like I said. Back to square one," Rossi said.

As JJ watched the five agents (plus Garcia on the monitor) sitting around moping, feeling sorry for themselves, and just couldn't take it anymore. Nothing about this case had been going right for them, but only because they had been going about everything in a completely different way to normal. And she wasn't going to watch them mope around anymore when they could be working towards finding their UnSub.

"Okay, what is up with you guys? So far, you've basically just thrown everything you know out the window and just taken what you've been told by this sheriff's department. That's not like you at all. You've barely done anything the way you usually do it. Now I know I'm not a profiler, but I know a thing or two about the way your minds work. Take it back to the beginning. Just forget about everything you've been told by the sheriff about their suspects and make your own profile. Do it the BAU way," JJ said, watching as the whole team stared at her, shocked, but knowing she was right. They all simply watched JJ, admiring her spirit, while she continued, "Now if you need anything, I'll be over here, avoiding the sheriff, because I've said it once and I'll say it again, that guy gives me the creeps."

Meanwhile, Garcia, listening from back at Quantico, begins slowly clapping, completely in awe of JJ as the team turns to face her. "Just slow clap it out. Never let her go, Emily Prentiss. You hear me? Never ever. That girl is a freaking gem."

Completely and utterly in awe.

"Well alright then," said Hotch. "Let's go back to the start."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys, two chapters in two days! Didn't think I'd manage that, but I already had it written and I want to get the next few chapters out quickly, cause the real action comes in chapter 7! I'll try and post another chapter tomorrow, but after that I might have to keep you waiting for a few days, sorry about that :D (but who knows, I'm pretty eager for you guys to read it so you may get the next chapters earlier rather than later). Enjoy, and as always, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **A/N:** Hey, so because I'm a terrible person and couldn't wait any longer to post the next chapter, I'm doing this one super early! Thank you so so much to everyone who has reviewed, it makes me so happy and as cliché as it sounds, it really inspires me to write, so keep on doing it!

A few of you have had some pretty good ideas about who the killer is, but all I can say is keep reading! Enjoy the chapter :D

* * *

Since the last girl had been killed, the families of the victims had become outraged. With all of the commotion at the sheriff's station, the team knew the only way they would be able to take a clear-headed approach to he profile was to continue their work back at their office in Quantico. They invited Sheriff Carter and Deputy Sacks to come back with them to help with the case until they finished their profile.

Once they took JJ's advice and went back to the start, it took them no time to complete a profile. Everything they'd needed had been right there; they just hadn't been able to see it. When they were finished, they briefed the sheriff and his deputy so they could go back to Stafford County and help the rest of the department continue with the search.

"This UnSub is something rather unique. We haven't seen anyone so… twisted, in quite a while. There's just so much detail he puts into his kills. He's most likely a white male in his late thirties to early forties," Rossi started.

Next was Reid's turn. "There's a possibility this UnSub sees what he does as… almost like an art form. The symmetry found in the placement of each of the needles says that he is highly routine and methodical, probably even in his everyday life. He may also have some form of OCD that may not be visibly noticeable to his colleagues or family, but would explain why his methodology is so delicate and precise. If he did something wrong in one of his kills, it would be detrimental to any sense of calm he holds in his demeanour."

"He will most likely work in a very rigid, structured environment where he feels he's not free to be himself and feels either maybe emasculated or held in lower regard by his peers. Considering there's no sexual aspect to his kills, he may be impotent, which would heighten his feeling of emasculation at his work," Morgan explained.

"In an order to counteract this, he probably uses this precise, excruciating method of killing as a way to show the women he kills that while he may be impotent, he can still inflict such an excruciating level of pain and assert dominance and strength over them in their final moments," Hotch continued.

Finally, Emily finished off the profile. "For him, as bad as it sounds, killing would be a creative or even spiritual release. It would only be during the killing that he truly feels like himself."

Deputy Sacks had a very solemn look on his face like the rest of the team, as though the thought of this UnSub was sickening. Sheriff Carter, however, seemed to have controlled his emotions and looked rather blank. They both said their goodbyes to the agents, heading back to Stafford County with this new information to continue their search.

With their new profile, the team had a lot more to go on as they once again combed through every piece of the victims' histories for who their UnSub may be or any connections they might have missed. A few hours passed before Emily started to get a bad feeling and was reminded of someone after seeing the full profile. "Guys I know this may sound crazy but I think I know who our UnSub could be."

"Who?" asks Hotch.

Emily nervously looked around outside the briefing room before closing and locking the door.

"Sorry, I just had to make sure," Emily said, seeing the curious looks she was getting from the team. "I think our UnSub could be the sheriff."

"You think Carter could be our UnSub? Why him? He had no connection to the girls and as far as we know no motive," JJ said.

"Well think about it Jayje. He actually fits our profile to a T. I mean we've all seen him in the interrogation room, he goes crazy. I mean you said it yourself, JJ, he gives off a weird vibe," Emily replied.

"Well yeah, okay, but 'weird vibe' does not equal serial killer," JJ said, actually quite shocked that Emily thought the sheriff was their UnSub.

"Actually it does make sense," Reid piped up. "It could explain his anger towards this case, and why he was so adamant that Martinez was the UnSub, he could've been trying to pin it on him. And he definitely could fit our profile."

"Yeah now that you mention it, it's like it all clicks. I mean I know we don't like jumping to conclusions, but we've actually got quite a bit of evidence to back it up," Morgan said. He looked up as though trying to remember something and looked over to JJ. "JJ, remember when we were in his office you mentioned that certificate for martial arts?"

"Hey, that could explain his knowledge of human pressure points, they're quite a common tool of attack in many martial art forms," Reid jumped in. Everything was all going a bit too quickly for JJ, but the rest of the team seemed to be in agreement.

"Okay guys wait, I'm not trying to be rude here but don't you think you've all come to this a bit fast? I mean you could fit a lot of people to that profile if you used the right aspects of their life. I know there's something off about Carter but I just don't think he's our UnSub," JJ tried to reason.

Before anyone could answer, they were interrupted by a frantic knocking at the door. Emily moved to unlock the door, and when she opened it, the team were met by a very dishevelled Deputy Sacks.

"Sacks, what are you doing back here? You're supposed to be on your way back to Stafford County," Hotch said. "Hey, what the hell happened to your head?" he asked, referring to a large gash on his forehead.

Sacks just looked completely in shock.

"Hey, come sit down over here, let me take a look at your head," JJ said, beckoning him over towards the table. When he was sitting down, he finally began to recount his story.

"Uh well… we were… we…" he stumbled. "I'm sorry, I'm just a bit shocked. Sheriff Carter and I were driving back home when he just pulled over to the side of the highway, no warning. When I tried to ask him what he was doing, he pulled out his gun. I thought he was going to shoot me right there, but… but instead, he just he me over the head with the butt of the gun. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a ditch on the side of the road. Jake was long gone, so I flagged down a car and hitchhiked back here."

"Wait, Jake?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, Sheriff Jacob Carter," he replied.

"Are you guys good friends?" JJ was curious.

"Yeah. At least I thought we were until this happened. Sorry, how is this relevant?" Sacks asked.

"Sorry, it isn't, never mind."

"Okay guys, that's it, Carter's got to be our UnSub. Rossi, Prentiss and Morgan you go together. Search every mile of forest out near the highway where he left Sacks. Reid, you're with me. We'll head back to his house in case he's gone back there, or at least to find something pointing to where he might have gone. JJ, you stay here and help Garcia find out anything you can that'll help us find him. Oh and Sacks, wait here and we'll get a medic to come look at that gash on your head, then call some of your people to meet us at Carter's house," Hotch barked out orders, anxious to find Carter before it was too late and he killed again. Everyone started to run out to their places when JJ called out.

"Wait a second, Hotch, just listen to me for a second. Something still doesn't add up," she exclaimed.

"JJ, he attacked Deputy Sacks and ran, what more proof do you need?" Hotch asked, in a hurry.

"Okay I can't really explain it but there's something we're missing here, something big. I just can't put my finger on but it's right in front of us. You just have to trust m eon this, Carter's not our guy," JJ pleaded.

"Look JJ, I respect your theory and I really appreciate how much you've helped this case, but the fact is, you're not a profiler. We have a bit more experience with this," Hotch replied. JJ was bewildered.

"I'm sorry, did I hear that right? I'm not a _profiler_? Hotch, you can't be serious right now! I've been a part of this team for 7 years and you're saying that just because I'm not a profiler I don't understand because I have less experience?"

"JJ I'm sure that's not what he m-"

"I know what he meant, Morgan. You know what, it's fine, sorry I wasted your time. I'll be in my office if you need me," JJ said, walking straight past the team members she considered family who she now thought believed she was worth less to the team than any of them. And it really hurt.

Emily hated seeing JJ so hurt. "JJ, wait!" she called after her, trying to get her to come back.

But Garcia stepped up to her and said, "Hey, let her go. I'll go talk to her in a bit. You guys go get the guy."

The team stood for a second feeling guilty about what had just happened. But they couldn't take the chance that JJ might be right about this, so they filed out to go try and catch him.

JJ walked into her office. The blinds were closed, which she was thankful for. She wasn't exactly in the mood to watch her team walk out after she had begged them not to. As she reached out to turn the lights on, the door closed suddenly behind her. Before she could turn around to see why, she felt a cold hand clamp around her mouth. Before she could even try to scream or fight back, she felt a needle pierce her neck, and the oncoming darkness overwhelmed her before she even knew what hit her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the cliffhanger, I just like to keep you on your toes! Not sure when I'll post the next chapter, I'm going to try to wait a bit, but that doesn't really work out for me, I'm very impatient. So hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review! ((Reviews mean earlier chapter updates!))


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 **A/N:** Hey guys, so I was going to wait to post this chapter but a lot of you said not to fight my impatience, so here you go! Also thanks to all of the people who reviewed, it was a very nice surprise when I woke up to find all those new reviews! I was definitely not expecting such a good response! This chapter is even more exciting, so enjoy :D

* * *

"Guys we've been searching for hours. If he's anywhere in this forest, we're not going to find him in the dark with only three people," Morgan said, still very anxious to find Carter. He recognised that if he was the UnSub (which he really believed he was), even though they really needed to find him, there was no way they'd be able to cover the whole forest area. Three people simply weren't enough and it was already 8 at night.

"Well let's hope he went back to his house and that Hotch and Reid have found something. Otherwise, we're going to have to wait till tomorrow to launch a full-scale manhunt for this creep," Rossi said, resigned.

Emily stood in thought, looking through the tops of the trees and up at the stars. She couldn't help but think about JJ. She'd looked so hurt when they left and Emily couldn't believe that she hadn't stood up for JJ and thought more about her theory in front of Hotch. And now she couldn't focus on their search for Carter because she was so conflicted. She so badly wanted to trust JJ and look further into the case, but she also trusted her own intuition. Carter fit the profile, and an innocent man wouldn't attack his deputy and run. It just didn't make sense. All she could do was take the lead she had and run with it. But that didn't make it any easier.

Emily brought herself back to reality and said, "Alright, well then let's go meet Hotch and Reid back at Carter's house. We can call them on the way."

She took the lead back to their SUV, and Rossi and Morgan followed suit.

* * *

When they arrived at the house, Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss were greeted by a horde of Stafford County police officers, combing every square inch of their own sheriff's house for any scrap of evidence they might find tying him to the murders.

When they got inside, Hotch and Reid were already deep in conversation, but turned to greet the other agents when they noticed them walking in.

"Have you found anything?" Morgan asked hopefully.

Hotch simply shook his head, a grave look on his face.

"We haven't found anything. Which honestly is not surprising. Someone as careful as Carter wouldn't leave any evidence in his own house, he's much too intelligent. And it would've been stupid for him to come back here so there's no shock there either," Hotch sighed agitatedly. He couldn't risk any more lives but he didn't really have a way to stop Carter with no evidence and no way to know where he went. "We're having the Sheriff's Department sweep this entire place for evidence but it may take a while. It's been hours since we left. Our best bet is to head back to the office and continue our search from there, dig into his past until we find something."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, back at the BAU office…_

As JJ came to, she was incredibly disoriented. At first she couldn't remember what had happened, but as she tried to move, she realised she couldn't. She was physically paralysed. And that's when it hit her: the PPK had her. And she was terrified.

She looked around and remembered that she was in her own office, and noticed that she was sat in a chair, no need for any restraints. She couldn't move even if she wanted to. She realised she must have been drugged like the other victims. _Oh God,_ she thought, terrified. She couldn't start thinking of herself as a victim. Not yet.

At that moment, her fear increased exponentially as she saw a figure emerge from the darkness of her office. As she looked up and saw the UnSub's face, JJ's eyes went wide as realised she knew exactly who he was – and she hated herself for not seeing that it was him. The only light in the room was from a lamp on her desk, the door was closed and so were her blinds. No one knew what was happening to her. And she couldn't even scream.

All she could do was watch as he reached into a duffle bag and pulled out a short knife. She felt her heart racing in her chest as he got closer and closer to her and for the first time in her life, she wished for nothing more than to scream at the top of her lungs.

 _Please no,_ she thought. _Please God let the team find me. This can't be happening, this can't be happening._ All she could do was hope for her team, her family, to find her and kill this son of a bitch. But as he leaned over her, putting his mouth right next to her ear, his breath hot on her neck, she feared it might be too late.

The last thing she heard was him whisper something in her ear, before he roughly grabbed her arm and positioned it on the arm of the chair. How she wished she could scream when he raised the knife up above her, plunging it into her hand with such force that it splintered the arm of the chair as it dug straight through. She may have been paralysed, but she felt more pain in that moment than she had ever thought possible. It was excruciating. But she knew it would only get worse from there.

She knew then that she wasn't getting out of this.

* * *

The team walked defeated through the doors of the elevator and into the bullpen.

"Alright everyone, meet back in the briefing room in five. We've got a lot of work to do and it really can't wait, we've got to find Carter," Hotch said, not wasting a single second.

All Emily wanted to do was go find JJ so that she could apologise for not standing up for her earlier, but with the rest of the team hurrying around her, she thought it would have to wait.

As Hotch remembered something, he called out to Morgan. "Morgan, will you please go tell JJ we need to put an APB out on Carter. Also ask her if she can organise a press conference. We're going to need to warn the public. I think she's in her office."

"Sure thing Hotch," replied Morgan. As he was about to head up to JJ's office, Garcia walked up to him, having heard what Hotch had asked Morgan.

"Hey, what's up baby girl?" Morgan asked, his mood lightening as soon as he saw her.

"I was just going to say, I really don't think you should go talk to JJ. She seemed pretty pissed before you guys left, and she hasn't left her office since," Garcia suggested.

"Yeah I know, and I feel really bad about that, it's just… I mean I respect that she thinks we're going in the wrong direction, but everything we have points to Carter. Wait, we've been gone for hours and she hasn't left her office? God she must be really hurt," Morgan said, incredibly stressed out by this whole case. He had no idea.

"I know, I get it. Just… maybe let me go talk to her for you. I'll tell her to start a press conference and all that. I just think she might take a bit more kindly to me," Garcia said.

"Alright. Well tell her I want to apologise to her."

"Sure thing you beautiful boy."

"Thanks Garcia."

Morgan walked up the stairs and past her office, sighing as he did, and continued on into the briefing room. Garcia followed behind him, and stopped just outside JJ's office door. She didn't want to barge in so she knocked a few times.

"Hey JJ can I come in?" she asked, getting no reply. She figured JJ just didn't want to talk to anyone right now, but it seemed a little bit unprofessional, which was unlike JJ. But she pushed her thoughts aside and pressed on.

"Listen Jayje I know you're mad at the rest if the team but can you please let me in? If it makes you feel any better, Morgan wants to apologise to you," she said hopefully, half joking. When she again received no answer, a bad feeling began to creep up Garcia's spine. Something wasn't quite right. All of JJ's blinds were closed, which was rare for JJ. She usually liked to look out on everyone while she worked. She said that when the cases were getting to her, she'd look out of her window onto the bullpen and see her colleagues working hard, selfless and strong. And then Emily would throw some paper at Reid's head grinning to herself as he kept looking up to find everyone still hard at work, no suspects.

From what she could see through the blinds, there was only a very dim light peering through them. Garcia couldn't wait for an answer, the bad feeling she had spreading to her stomach.

"JJ?" she asked, pushing open the door.

The first thing she saw when she opened the door was the blood. There was just so much of it. It made her feel sick to her stomach. And then she looked up and saw JJ's face. She didn't think she'd ever seen anyone in so much pain. Her eyes were closed, but Garcia could see that she was nowhere near peaceful. She was dying, or… _God no_ , she thought.

JJ's throat was slit, knives sticking out of both her hands and feet. Needles littered through her body, in her head, her neck, her arms, legs… everywhere. And all Garcia could do was scream.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well I hate myself for putting JJ in pain, but I also don't because it makes this just so much more interesting *evil laugh* Unfortunately I don't have any more written right now so it may be a little bit longer before I update again (not too long, just a day or two). Hope you can hold out till then and hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review :D


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 **Please read author's note**

 **A/N:** Hey guys, so I put off writing this chapter for a bit because I didn't know how I was going to do it, or if I could do what I had planned justice, but I managed to write so much more than I thought I would, so here it is!

This chapter was honestly so emotionally draining to write and I wanna say it took me about 2 hours to write, but it was very worth it. Sorry its very heavy! I hope you enjoy it!

And as a quick little side note, I channelled just about avery sad song I know while writing this song, but the main ones were Whispers (Acoustic) by Passenger, Let it Be Me by Ray LaMontagne and To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra. Listen to them while reading (or beforehand) if you want to kind of get the feel of the chapter. I kind of imagined it all going a bit in slow motion at the start when they're all rushing around, kind of just soundless (if it were being filmed) with one of those songs playing in the background.

I really hope you enjoy this!

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"What the hell?" Morgan asked, turning around to see where the screaming was coming from. He had been standing just past the doorway to the briefing room when he heard someone that sounded very much like Garcia screaming.

"Garcia, what's wrong?" he asked, running to her. She stood at JJ's office door, just staring straight in, an absolutely horrified look on her face. And that made him very worried. Her scream was sickening and he knew something had to be very wrong. And when he got to Garcia, he knew that 'wrong' just didn't cut it. This was horrific.

"Oh my God, JJ!" Morgan yelled. At the sight of JJ, his knees went weak. It felt like his heart stopped beating and no breath dared enter his lungs. All he could do was stand there and try to stop himself from falling to his knees before he noticed the rest of his team crowd around JJ's door, and Derek could tell that they all felt the exact same thing. It wasn't until then that he ran to JJ. It felt like his entire world was running in slow motion as he heard Hotch yell, "Somebody call 911! Now!" which Rossi did immediately. Derek fell to his knees beside JJ. He wanted to check for a pulse but for a moment he was too afraid to touch her. But he knew time was very much of the essence, so he tentatively raised his hand and pressed two fingers to her neck.

The whole team stood in shock. No one could move. The mere sight of JJ had made their blood run cold. And now as Derek checked for a pulse, they didn't know what to feel. How could anyone survive this? They waited with bated breath for Derek to give them an answer.

"Oh my God," he whispered.

"What? What's going on? Morgan is she alive?" Hotch almost yelled, every muscle in his body aching as he stood tense, terrified by what answer he might receive.

"I… She, uh… Her pulse is weak but it's still there. She's alive!" Morgan said, incredulous. No one could believe that JJ could still be alive. There was so much blood.

"How, how is that even possible? Her throat…" Garcia said, her voice almost a whisper, tears streaming down her face.

"Uh, she… she… God I can't…" Derek said. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, all he knew was blood and he couldn't stop his tears from dripping onto JJ's sleeve as he leaned over her. "The cut on her neck isn't deep enough, it's only superficial, just like the other…" He almost couldn't bring himself to say it, that word that made this all too real. "Just like the other victims."

Every agent on the team stood in JJ's office. No one could even function. All they could do was stand together, waiting for someone to help their friend. For the first time, no one had any clue what to do next. And there was not a dry eye in that room. Except for Emily Prentiss.

As the rest of them stood motionless in that moment. Emily finally moved forward from where she had waited, outside of JJ's office. Everyone turned to watch as she slowly walked towards JJ and knelt down in front of her. They all looked to each other, wondering what Emily would do. Somehow it killed them all even more inside to think what Emily must have been feeling, seeing her girlfriend on the brink of death, in so much pain.

Emily reached forward, still seemingly stoic, and held JJ's face in her hands. "JJ," she whispered simply, her voice cracking under the strain of so much grief. "JJ please. Wake up," she whispered, still holding JJ's head in her hands. The team watched as Emily tried to wake her girlfriend. All she wanted was to hear JJ's voice, for her to say that everything was okay. She desperately needed that. "JJ, please, open your eyes," she pleaded, her voice growing slightly louder with each word.

Garcia couldn't watch. It was all too painful. Seeing her family all in this much pain was the worst thing she could imagine. And JJ… Oh she wept for JJ. She may have been alive, but she was in no way 'alright'. And Garcia faced the hard truth that one of her best friends in the world could die at any moment. And there was nothing she could do.

And Emily just kept pleading with JJ to wake up, still no tears to be seen. "Come on JJ, I know you're alive, so you just have to wake up for me now okay? Jayje?" she begged. But JJ didn't stir. Emily sat in wait, almost expecting JJ's beautiful blue eyes to open at any second. And when she waited and they didn't open, she broke inside. "Oh God JJ please come back to me, please, you can't do this to me, you are not going anywhere, I won't let you," she sobbed, wanting so badly to wrap her arms around the love of her life. But she couldn't, not with the state JJ was in.

Hotch hadn't taken his eyes off JJ since he stepped foot in the room. He couldn't risk missing anything. A woman he deeply cared about sat in an immeasurable amount of pain, which he had done nothing to prevent. She had told him not to go after Carter, and she was right. Whether or not he was the UnSub aside, if they hadn't gone after Carter, the team would have been able to get to JJ. She would never have been in this position, in this pain. Even if she somehow managed to live through this, Hotch knew he would never forgive himself. He didn't deserve it.

Rossi was devastated. He stood solemnly to the side and watched his team breaking right in front of him. He thought he knew what evil looked like. He'd worked so many cases in his career, so many devastating situations, but not one of them measured up to this. No evil that he had faced had ever had him seeing so many devastated, broken people standing around the almost lifeless body of someone they loved so much. JJ was one of the kindest souls he had ever had the pleasure of knowing. And to see her in so much pain assured him that the man who did this was evil incarnate.

And Reid… He sat to the side, hugging his knees, tears streaming openly down his face, his body racked with silent sobs as his innocent eyes looked upon the horrific sight before him. There were no words for the pain he felt for his best friend.

Derek tried to comfort Emily. He wanted so badly to close his eyes and open them to his team, so far away from this. Happy. He couldn't stand that something like this had happened. He had vowed to do his best to protect this little family of his from everything their job threw at them, but he couldn't get them out of this one. He had failed. Now all he could do was try and keep Emily from breaking, but he could see that he may already be too late.

"Shh, Em, it's gonna be okay. Everything will be fine. She's gonna make it through this, you hear me? She will survive this. She has to survive this," Morgan said, trying to convince himself as much as Emily.

"'Okay'?" Emily asked doubtfully. "You think she's gonna be 'okay'? How can she be okay? How the hell could this happen!" Emily's heart was breaking. She was almost hysterical. JJ was hanging on by a thread and Emily didn't know how much longer she could last like this, and she was beyond terrified. She didn't know that this amount of grief was possible for one person to feel, but it was debilitating. Every fibre of her being ached with anguish, she couldn't control her tears. It was all unbearable.

At that moment, two paramedics rushed through the door to JJ's side. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to step aside so we can work on her," one of them said. When she made no effort to move, still intently staring at JJ's face as if waiting for her to wake up, he spoke up again. "Please, ma'am, you have to let us help her."

Derek stepped in and began to help Emily up to her feet. "Come one, Em, let the paramedics do their job," he softly coaxed her up, and she seemed to want to put up a fight, but ultimately didn't have the strength for it. So she let Morgan lead her back.

"It's a miracle that she's still alive," one of the paramedics said to the other. The female paramedic then spoke to the team.

"Okay, we've got pressure on her neck wound, but if we want to move her, which we'll have to do, we're gonna have to get these knives out of her hands and feet."

Hotch shook his head. "Won't her pain be excruciating if we try and take those out?"

"Look, odds are, she's not going to wake up when we do. In her state, I'd say she'll be unconscious through it and she won't be able to feel any pain. She's probably numb to it by now anyway. I'm sorry, we have to do it, she doesn't have a lot of time."

After a moment's consideration with all eyes on him, Hotch nodded. "Go ahead."

"Sir, will you please help us out with this?" they asked Morgan, who hesitated for a second before agreeing and moving to the vacant side of JJ's chair. "Okay," the paramedic continued, "now you're going to have to be very delicate with this. When you pull them out, we're gonna get pressure on her hands and feet as soon as possible to stop the bleeding, she's lost too much blood already. Okay, on my count."

As Derek placed his hand on the handle of the knife in one of JJ's hands, Emily kept her gaze on JJ's face. She thought she saw JJ stir, but thought she was just seeing what she wanted to see.

"Okay on my count. Three…"

 _Wait a second,_ Emily thought.

"…two…"

"No Stop, she's waking up!" Emily yelled frantically. But it was too late.

"One!"

On that count, Derek pulled the knife out of JJ's hand, about to turn to Emily to see what she was talking about, but he didn't need to. He heard an agonized scream from JJ, and it was like finding her all over again. It was heartbreaking. Derek caught tears starting again, but tried to remain strong for JJ.

"Oh my God, JJ, I'm sorry," he said, his voice weak. "I'm so sorry Jayje. But we have to get these knives out, okay? We're gonna get them out and then we're gonna take you straight to a hospital and you're gonna be fine, okay?"

JJ was too weak to speak. She was fighting so hard just to keep breathing, and the team could see that.

"JJ," Emily rushed forward. "Oh JJ, I know it hurts, baby, I'm sorry. But you've got to stay with me, okay?" she pleaded, putting so much strength into those last few words. "I love you, Jennifer Jareau. I am not letting you go, not now. So please, just be strong for one more minute, for me."

JJ couldn't speak, but gave a very pained nod. She wasn't giving up. No matter how much she wanted to. She had been in so much pain. It was unbearable. But now, on the brink of death, she was just… numb. But she wanted so badly just to let go. She had promised herself that she would stay alive long enough for the team to find her. And now that they had, she could feel her will to stay awake running thin. It would be so easy to just give in and let the darkness overtake her. But seeing Emily made it so hard. She knew that she had to hold on just a little bit longer. Seeing Emily made her think everything was going to be okay.

"Okay, Jayje, I'm so sorry but we have to get these out now," Morgan whispered next to her. She looked to Emily, almost for some sort of confirmation.

"It's gonna be okay," Emily tried to assure her. But she knew it was a lie.

JJ simply nodded, and Derek placed his hand on the handle of the next knife, and JJ braced herself for even more pain.

"Okay, my count again," said the paramedic. "Three, two, one!"

The whole team winced as JJ screamed again. The whole situation just seemed surreal. Everyone felt so distant, like they weren't really there. Until JJ screamed and they were pulled right back in. They had two knives to go, and each was as painful as the last. But JJ lost any energy to scream after the second knife. All she could do was sit in silent suffering. She had thought her pain was over when the UnSub had finally left. But she was far from peaceful.

"Okay, we were going to leave the needles in until we got into the ambulance, but looking at the extent of her injuries, it may be too dangerous to move her with them in," a paramedic said.

"What do you mean, we're gonna have to take them out now?" Reid asked, his voice weak and broken. "But won't that be too dangerous without a surgeon? I can't sit here and watch my best friend suffer any longer, do you at least have some sort of anaesthesia?" Reid was growing angry, his voice growing stronger as he finally stood up from his position on the floor. He just wanted peace for his friend.

"I'm sorry, we don't. But the risks of moving her with the needles are too high," the paramedic answered.

JJ summoned all of her strength to finally speak up. "No… please, no," she whimpered, pleading to Morgan. She couldn't take any more of the pain. She'd been through more than she could take. She just wanted peace.

"Em…" JJ whispered. She was losing what little strength she had left, but she had more to say. "You have to know… that… I love you… so, so much," she cried out. She was losing consciousness. "I love you…"

"Oh JJ I love you so much," Emily croaked. "I'm so sorry." She couldn't really say any more.

The team knew that JJ's time was limited if they didn't do something quickly. Rossi, unexpectedly, spoke up.

"We have to do this now or we'll lose her," he begged.

JJ still couldn't do it. She turned to Morgan and with the last ounce of strength she had, whispered something into his ear that only he could hear. "Let me die… please, let me die," she begged.

Everyone looked to Morgan as JJ whispered in his ear. As she spoke, his heart broke, the last thread. He but on a steely expression, and all but sealed JJ's fate.

"Do it."

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 **A/N:** Please review! Let me know what you liked or didn't like, I really appreciate feedback! I'll try to have the next chapter up ASAP, don't want to keep you guys waiting! :D


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 **A/N:** Hey guys! So I loved all the reviews for the last chapter, they were great! Thanks to everyone who regularly reviews, if you didn't, I wouldn't be half as motivated to write.

I'm not so sure how I feel about this chapter. They can be pretty hard to write when there's so much stuff I need to get in there, sometimes it's hard to get info in without making everything seem disjointed. Anyways, here you go, I hope you enjoy it!

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"Okay JJ, you're doing great. We're just going to take these needles out and then I promise you, we're gonna get you to a hospital and you'll be fine, okay? You just have to stay with us," said the female paramedic, noticing that JJ was quickly losing consciousness.

"I count 6 needles in total, but…" the paramedic said. "Damn, these needles are really thick. At first I thought they were normal syringe needles but these are something else. The amount of blood here just doesn't add up, there's too much of it. And it looks like most of them penetrate muscle, there may be some serious damage there," she said, the team growing worried at her tone.

"Well what the hell does that mean?" Morgan demanded. "We're running out of time here, I don't know how much longer she can hold on."

"It means we're gonna have to do this quickly but very gently. We're going to need your help again, agent."

Morgan nodded and positioned his hand around the first needle in her knee.

"Okay, try and pull it out at the angle it went in, don't shift it around too much or it may cause more damage," said the paramedic.

Morgan quickly did as he was told, and all JJ could do now was whimper, a few solitary tears escaping her eyes. Everyone in the room could see that she was barely holding on. Their time was running out and JJ was losing consciousness.

When Morgan was done with the needles in her knees and above each collarbone, they only had two left. The last ones were in her temples.

"Okay now these are going to be tricky. Now… he must have stopped each needle just before it hit the temporal bone, otherwise they would have penetrated their brain and… there's no way she would have been able to make it this long. But you're still going to have to be very careful," the paramedic warned Morgan.

"Okay, I got it," Morgan snapped, very nervous about what he was about to do. One wrong move and he could kill JJ. And he was not going to let that happen. He started to pull the first needle as quickly as he could without shifting it, which he managed to do. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but knew they weren't out of the woods yet. Morgan pulled out the final needle as the other paramedic ran to go get the gurney.

"JJ we're getting you out of here," Emily went to assure JJ, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, her tears dripping into JJ's head. But JJ didn't move. Everyone had been so focussed on Morgan pulling out the needles that they hadn't noticed that she hadn't moved in a while.

"Oh God, JJ wake up," Emily yelled frantically. She hurriedly pressed two fingers to JJ's neck, checking for a pulse. She couldn't find one.

"Oh my God, she's not breathing. We need some help, she's not breathing!" Emily yelled, and everyone's heart dropped. The paramedics ran to go move JJ, ready to shock her with the defibrillator when Reid called out.

"Wait, stop, you can't move her!" he yelled, causing many heads to turn towards him.

"Kid, what the hell are you talking about, we don't have any time left, she's dying! Morgan yelled. Everyone was on edge. JJ was technically dead and now Reid was telling them they couldn't move her to help her.

"I think there might be another needle. The last girl that was murdered, I remember there was something different about her, Reid said, thinking. "Oh God, the UnSub got her somewhere else, two needles in the small of her back."

One of the paramedics ran to the back of the chair, checking JJ for any more injuries. "He's right, there's two here. This is not good," he said.

"Why, what's going on?" Emily yelled. "Please hurry, she's dying here!"

The paramedic was flustered. "These needles are placed very close to her spine, if we move them, we might cause paralysis, but if we don't then we can't move her."

The team was at a standstill. They couldn't afford to be, but they couldn't help it. How could they make that decision? Then again, there wasn't really a decision to make. The only way that JJ would even have a chance was to take out the needles. Their only other choice was to leave her there to die. And they all realised this. But they knew the only person that could make this decision was Emily. So they all looked to her. But she was already one step ahead.

"Do it, move them. Now!" Emily yelled.

And so they did. Ever so slightly and carefully, Morgan pulled the needles out, being so careful not to shift them even a millimetre. And when they were out, all they could do was hope they hadn't hit her spinal cord.

"Okay, get her on the gurney now!" the female paramedic yelled, and Hotch and Morgan picked up JJ and carried her over to the gurney. The paramedics hooked JJ up to the defibrillator. The first shock that pulsed through JJ's body did nothing. Her heart still did not beat.

Everything was back into slow motion. No one moved, no one even breathed as they watched as JJ's body convulsed with the shock. The time in between both charges seemed like forever. But the paramedics shocked JJ once again. A few seconds passed before everyone breathed out a sigh of relief and Garcia let out a slight involuntary sob. She was just so overwhelmed. JJ's heart had once again started beating.

"Okay let's get her outside to the ambo quickly. One person can travel with us to the hospital. The rest of you can meet us there," the paramedic said, quickly wheeling JJ out towards the elevator. Prentiss followed straight behind them.

"I'll see you guys at the hospital," she said quickly, before turning around and continuing behind JJ.

"Emily," Hotch yelled, his voice full of emotion. He couldn't say anything else. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what would happen to JJ, whether or not she'd be okay. All he could do was give Prentiss a look she rarely saw on him. He was scared. She simply nodded back to him and ran to catch up with the paramedics.

No one wasted any more time before heading down to their SUV's to head to the hospital. But they could barely even look at each other. Everyone was too caught up in their own grief. What no one wanted to feel or to think about was the guilt they shared. But each and every one of them carried it.

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The BAU team, by nature, was never really one for waiting. They were always on the move, always following up new leads or chasing down UnSubs. They were always in charge. When they had information, they had the power to keep it from the public and the power to choose exactly when and to whom they shared it. They were not used to being in the dark. But on that fateful night, sitting in the hospital waiting room, heads bowed low, they had nothing. They had no power over their situation and they had no idea what was going on with JJ. She'd been taken into the OR 3 hours ago, and the team had heard nothing of her condition.

Emily had been with her in the ambulance. She'd watched as JJ's heart struggled to keep beating, giving out once more before they had reached the hospital, and it killed Emily inside. Seeing her girlfriend die twice in one night was her own personal hell. And she was convinced that was what it was. Emily had accepted her part in this. She knew she should have stood up for JJ in front of Hotch earlier when she'd said not to go after Carter. But she hadn't. And when they got back, despite the bad feeling she had, she hadn't gone to check on JJ. She'd walked straight past her office, blissfully unaware that the girl she loved sat inside, bleeding to death in excruciating pain. And now JJ was paying for it. All Emily could do was suffer alongside her, accepting the overwhelming guilt that sat in her chest. This was her fault.

And now they sat silently in that hospital waiting room, heads bowed low. Morgan watched as Emily sighed in frustration and put her head in her hands. Everything was just so uncertain. The whole situation felt disjointed and disconnected. Some moments flew by, everything so frantic, while others had seemed like they would never end, so full of pain and grief that Emily felt like her heart was going to explode. Now she was just lost. She had no idea what came next. All she knew was sitting in that waiting room waiting for news was agonizing.

"Hey, Em, what's up?" Morgan asked.

"This is all my fault," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"What?"

"I said this is all my fault," she repeated, louder this time, taking her head out of her hands and looking up at Morgan. He was taken aback.

"Hey, you can't think like this. There's nothing you could've done. This is not your fault," he tried to assure her, but he could tell she didn't believe him. "Hey I mean it. The only person whose fault this is is the man who did that to JJ. That man is a monster. And you are not him."

"You're wrong," Garcia from off to the side. The rest of the team, having been listening in, turned to face Garcia.

"I'm sorry?" Morgan asked, confused.

"You're wrong. This is your fault," Garcia said, directing it at the whole team, who were all completely shocked. Morgan was about to say something before Garcia continued, standing up. "You all need to stop sitting here feeling sorry for yourselves, because JJ is in that OR in so much pain, fighting for her life all because you didn't trust her judgement. You left her alone after she told you not to go out after your suspect. You should've trusted her, because she was right in the end. If you had just listened to her, waited a day before charging out and trying to be heroes, then she would not be in there, suffering, in so much pain. Even if by some _miracle_ she survives this, nothing is going to fix that. So, yeah, this is your fault," Garcia said, her voice breaking as she thought about JJ. As soon as she had said that, she regretted it. She didn't think those things, not really. This whole situation was breaking her down. She was so exhausted and her grief was overwhelming her. She hadn't meant to take it out on the team. Although she did recognise some truth to what she had said.

The team simply sat in silence. No one could say one word in reply. While they may have not wanted to believe it at first, they all knew deep down that this was partially their fault. They may have closed off their guilt before, but they sure as hell felt it now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. This isn't your fault, I'm so sorry. I get antsy and serious when I'm worried about one of you," Garcia gushed, apologising profusely. No one blamed her. They all felt the same way. This had been possibly the worst situation the team had faced together, and they had seen a lot. Having one of their own so brutally attacked on their own turf… in their own home. It was the one place they all felt safe. They put up a good front, but every one of these agents got scared sometimes. And when a job got personal or they found themselves or another teammate in danger, it was the one place they knew that they would all be safe, that no one would take any member of that little family of theirs away from them. That was, until that night.

"I'm just… I'm gonna go grab some coffee, call me if there's any news," Garcia said while walking out in a hurry, still sorry about her earlier outburst.

Following Garcia's exit, the team settled back into their uncomfortable silence, just waiting for some news, all of their thoughts and prayers directed to JJ, hoping that by some miracle she made it out of this alive.

At one point or another, every member of the team thought about something: if JJ did make it out of this alive, would she forgive them? Or would she agree with the guilt they so badly wanted not to be theirs?

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 **A/N:** Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I am very excited to get into some different stuff next chapter so you should get excited. It may take me a day or two extra to post the next chapter because I'm through all the chapters I planned out in advance, I'm gonna try and plan out a few more or I won't know where I'm going with the story (I do have a general idea though so don't worry!). As always, please review, or follow or favourite the story if you like it! :D


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 **A/N: Oh my god guys its been so long! I am so so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I started writing this chapter and got 3/4 of the way through when I just could not find the way to finish this chapter. But its finally finished and I promise it will never take me this long to update again. I hope you enjoy it :)**

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Penelope walked down the hospital hallway, none of the usual joy in her demeanour. Instead she walked with such a weight on her shoulders she hadn't felt in a long time. She couldn't believe how she had one off at the team. She knew she didn't believe what she said. She didn't blame the team, not really. Truthfully, she blamed herself more.

She had been there. Sure, the team could have stayed but they were just doing their job, trying to catch a killer. She had just been sitting in her office, completely oblivious to the fact that one of her best friends was on the brink of death so close to where she sat. She should have gone to check on JJ, to comfort her, to do anything other than be so ignorant of the pain JJ was in. If she had, maybe she could have prevented it.

So caught up in her guilt, Penelope forgot why she'd even gone walking in the first place and had somehow found her way back to the team. When she got there, she didn't bother to go back and get coffee. Instead, she sat back down in the waiting room, watching the team. She hated to see them suffering, but honestly, she didn't have the strength to try and cheer them up. Even if she tried, she knew it wasn't possible.

Her eyes wandered over to Emily. She looked absolutely broken. She still sat with her head in her hands, completely devastated, still full of guilt. There was a lot of that going around that night.

Penelope was broken from her thoughts by a call from a doctor walking into the waiting room.

"Family of Jennifer Jareau?" the doctor asked.

Emily's head immediately shot up, rushing straight to him.

"Uh yes, that's us. How is she? Is she okay?" Emily asked frantically.

"Well she's alive. Jennifer is still in critical condition, but she's stable for now. They're just moving her to the ICU now," he told the team as everyone breathed a hesitant sigh of relief.

"Please, call her JJ," Emily asked softly.

The doctor nodded and continued. "JJ lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stop the bleeding. The next 24 hours are critical. There was significant nerve and tissue damage where the knives pierced her hands and feet, and the needles also caused quite extensive damage. The main thing I'm worried about is her brain," he said, causing the team's anxiety to increase.

"The brain is very delicate. While it wasn't affected directly by the needle, there was a lot of pressure around her skull. Because of this, we've had to place her into a medically induced coma."

"Oh God," Emily whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. Garcia simply walked over to her and placed an arm around her shoulder. Unfortunately, it appeared as though the doctor wasn't finished.

"The rest of her condition is dependent on whether she survives the next 24 hours, and then whether she wakes up from the coma. Due to the damage in her knees and feet, if she does wake up, she may not be able to walk for a little while."

This reminded Hotch of something,

"What about her spine, was there any damage from the needles?" he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Fortunately no, there was no damage," the doctor replied.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the biggest reaction coming from Morgan. He had been holding so much worry that something he had done may have hurt JJ even more. Rossi had noticed this, patting him on the back before placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, doing his best to provide some sort of comfort in the wake of all this bad news.

"As I said before, the main thing I'm worried about is her brain. There's no telling what so much pressure to it will have done."

"Wait, what does that mean? What exactly are you worried about?" Emily asked frantically, worried about what the doctor wasn't telling her.

"Well the pressure of the blood around her skull combined with the blood loss she suffered and going without oxygen for some time could potentially have caused any level of memory loss. There's really no telling until… _if_ she wakes up," he said.

 _If,_ Emily thought, the word resounding in her head. She'd never realised how terrible a word that was. She felt so overwhelmed with all of this information, everything being so uncertain. She had hoped the doctor might provide her with some semblance of comfort if that were even possible. She realised then that it wasn't. She really couldn't think straight, but the one thing she knew was that she had to see JJ.

"Can we go see her?" she asked, her voice so full of the uncertainty that she couldn't shake.

"Yes, but only two people at this time," the doctor said.

It was clear that the Emily and Derek were the two who should see JJ first. It was unspoken, but everyone could see that they needed to the most. Emily almost ran to where the doctor directed her, so desperate to be with JJ. She didn't know what she expected to feel when she saw JJ, but she was still so overwhelmed. JJ just looked so broken. The first thing Emily knew was the tears rolling down her face and Morgan's arms wrapping around her, pulling her into a hug as she sobbed into his chest.

Derek stood stoic, looking down at JJ. Having seen what had happened to her and knowing what could happen if she were to wake up, how much pain she would be in, he knew that he would never wish that upon anyone. Except maybe the man that did it to her. He thought back to being in that room, JJ suffering beside him, and remembered what she'd whispered into his ear.

 _"Let me die… please, let me die."_

 _Maybe I should have let her._

The next morning, much to everyone's relief, JJ was still stable. It wasn't by much, but somehow everyone's hope for JJ grew a little bit.

Emily had stayed at the hospital all night, not once leaving JJ's side. She had tried to stay awake for as long as possible, not wanting to miss anything, but as morning came around, her exhaustion kicked in and she succumbed to sleep, still holding onto JJ's hand. As she slept, the team one by one made their way back to the hospital, all gathering outside her room.

"How is she, any change?" Morgan asked as he walked up to the rest of the team, the last one to arrive.

"No," Reid replied shortly.

"Well what do we do now?" Morgan asked.

"We keep working the case," Rossi suggested.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Reid asked, unhopeful. "We have no idea where Carter is, not to mention we're not even sure if he's our UnSub. The only way we can make any progress is if he kills again."

"Hey, kid, it's gonna be okay," Morgan tried to reassure him. "JJ's gonna wake up, we have to believe that. And when she does, we can use whatever she remembers about him."

"We don't know when JJ will wake up, and even if she does, there's no telling what she'll remember. Whoever this… this _monster_ is has all the power," Reid said cynically. He was hurt, and it was too hard for him to see a way past the unwinnable situation they found themselves in. But they all knew he had a point.

"Okay so we all go back to JJ's office and we look for any clue as to who this guy is and where he's gone. There's gotta be something on the security cameras," Morgan said, looking for any way to help JJ.

Hotch nodded his head in agreement. He looked back at Emily. Even in sleep he could see she wasn't peaceful, and he knew there was no way he could let her keep working while JJ was still in a coma.

"I'm going to give Emily a few weeks off to stay with JJ. She's in no state to keep working the case, I know that much," Hotch told the team, and they all nodded in agreement, watching as Hotch walked into JJ's room and over to Emily.

As he did, they all looked at JJ, wishing so much that she would wake up and come back to them. They didn't realise it often, and as cliché as it was, JJ was like the glue that held the team together. Without her, they couldn't think straight, and not a single one of them knew what would happen if she didn't wake up.

Hotch gently squeezed Emily's shoulder to wake her up and she immediately turned to JJ, not taking her eyes off her. She simply shook her head as Hotch told her he was giving her a few weeks off, giving no objection.

Even knowing that they should get back to working the case, the team couldn't bring themselves to leave JJ. Even with no change, in some corner of their minds they still thought she might wake up and they didn't want to miss anything. And even though she wasn't awake they all wanted to be there just to comfort her at the very least. But then when reality set in and they knew she wouldn't wake up any time soon, they went back to work.

Four more days had passed, and Emily still had not moved. No matter how many times the team had suggested she go home and get some rest, that they would watch over JJ for a night, Emily kept refusing. She couldn't leave JJ alone, not again. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if something happened to JJ while she was gone. She had to protect her, and that meant she wasn't going to leave JJ's side until she woke up. And she had faith that she would. JJ was the strongest person she knew, she wouldn't give up without a fight. She had already fought so hard; just the fact that she was still breathing was proof of that. Emily wasn't leaving.

And so the team resorted to going to her house to get her a few spare changes of clothes, doing anything they could to help her and JJ. They would all come back and visit every day after work, their lives basically consisting of nothing but JJ and working the case. But they didn't care. Until they caught whoever hurt those girls, hurt their friend, they refused to think about anything else, they couldn't.

And Emily just sat with JJ, holding her hand, praying that she would just open her eyes. For the first three days she didn't say a word. She didn't feel strong. She didn't know if she could get through this, which was a rare, and very overwhelming feeling for her. She used to think she could survive anything. With all the things she'd seen, she knew she could. But she'd never expected to go through anything like this. The thought of losing JJ was debilitating. She couldn't even muster up the strength to utter a single word to JJ. The rest of the team came in and were doing everything they could to try and wake JJ up, telling her abut their days, telling her they wouldn't stop until they caught the man that did this to her. Emily didn't think she had the right. How could she say something to comfort JJ when nothing would even comfort her? She couldn't talk about it like she knew everything would get better, or like when JJ woke up everything would just go back to normal?

But sitting silently next to her girlfriend while she was unconscious in a hospital bed didn't really bode well with Emily either. It wasn't like her to just shut down and hide from her problems, she was stronger than that. So on the fifth day, Emily spoke to JJ. At first, she just opened her mouth, but when no words came out, sighed and then closed it. She did it once more before waiting five more minutes, mentally wrestling with herself about what to say before getting fed up and blurting out, "JJ…"

 _Oh God,_ she thought. _What now?_

"JJ I have to say something. God, this is so hard. I just… you need to know… JJ I am so sorry. For everything. I'm sorry for not backing you up, and I'm sorry for leaving after you asked me not to," Emily blurted out. "I'm sorry for not believing in you, and I'm sorry for leaving you alone, and, and I… I'm sorry that I'm the reason you're in this mess, I'm so sorry," she began to cry. All of the guilt that had been locked up inside of her came rushing out all at once, bringing all of those emotions to the surface that she had been trying so hard not to feel. She rested JJ's hand in her own, being so careful and delicate.

Emily was struggling so hard to string together the right words to tell JJ exactly what she was feeling, but the problem was that Emily couldn't even describe it to herself. Just as she was about to give up and revert back to her silent state, she felt the slightest movement of JJ's hand in her own.

* * *

Meanwhile, the team had been back to work. They'd worked non-stop for the four days since JJ had been admitted into the hospital. they hadn't taken any new cases, they couldn't even think about anything else let alone work another case. Not when JJ's life was at stake. Some of them had barely slept, and when they did, most of them had slept at the office. They couldn't go home and lie in their own beds and relax when the man who hurt JJ was still at large. They had to find him, and they wouldn't stop until they did.

The team minus Emily had all been working tirelessly to try and find the UnSub, but they hadn't found much. They got a few reports of people saying they'd seen Sheriff Carter, but they'd all been dead ends. But the team refused to give up. They were doing this for JJ.

It was around 8pm and as Hotch was asking Reid to do something, Strauss came in and interrupted the team.

"Agents," she said, announcing herself as she entered the room. "I'm afraid I have bad news for you. I have gotten requests from the director to keep you moving with other cases, and I'm afraid that means I have to take you off this case."

The team were outraged. All at once they put up a fight, yelling that they couldn't be taken off the case, that they knew everything about the case and were the only ones that could solve it. But Strauss wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry, but you're too close to this now. I'm afraid your judgement may be clouded and we can't risk letting your emotions interfere with this case. I'm handing it over to another team. I really am sorry, but there are so many other cases you could be working on that I feel will be a better use of your time."

She waited a few moments and looked around at all of their stunned faces, and when no one said another word, she gave them one last sad look and left the room. The team just sat in disbelief. For a few moments non one knew what to say. It was Morgan who finally spoke up.

"So that's it? We're just gonna drop this?" he asked, incredulous. Hotch appeared to be fighting a battle inside his head as he pressed his hands against his temples. But he was far from finished with this case,

"Of course not. We'll keep working the case in secret. For now just go home and I'll figure something out." The team looked slightly uneasy, but they knew it was the only thing they could do. They couldn't let JJ down. Not again.

What they hadn't noticed was Reid. As soon as Strauss had left the room, Reid had gotten a phone call. They all loked to him as he turned around with a wild, uneasy look in his eye.

"Guys, that was Emily. JJ's awake."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger! I promise I will try to upload the next chapter this week, I think I've finally gotten back into this story so it's coming out a lot easier now. Please review!**


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